Former Duck Rucchin to help honor Selanne

Nearly eight years after the three skated their last shift together, former Ducks captain Steve Rucchin still gets asked what it was like to center a line that featured high-octane wingers Teemu Selanne and Paul Kariya.

"I'd like to say it's probably stopped, but I don't think it has," Rucchin said. "Let's just say if I had a nickel for every time I've heard that, I would have a lot of nickels."

So let's turn it around. What was it like for Selanne and Kariya to play on a line with Rucchin?

"Rucch made us better players," Selanne said. "First of all, defensively, he was outstanding. Obviously, he was better defensively than we were. We always talked that he had to be first on the forecheck and first on the backcheck. He was a workhorse. Faceoffs, battles in the corners -- he was the full package.

"Many nights, he was the best player on our line. He was a huge part of our success."

Rucchin, 37, is set to be in attendance for Wednesday night's matchup with the Calgary Flames, an honored guest who will present Selanne with a pictorial collage during a pre-game ceremony feting Selanne for having become the all-time franchise leader in games played Jan. 31 at Colorado. Selanne, currently at 621 games, surpassed the previous mark of 616 established by Rucchin.

"I think it's great that Teemu is the all-time leader for the team," Rucchin said. "We all know what a great and generous person he is -- and he's an incredible hockey player. I think it's fitting that he is on the top of the list."

Rucchin's appearance at Honda Center will be his first since the end of the 2003-04 season, when the building was still known as Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim.

Following the lockout that erased the 2004-05 NHL campaign, the Ducks sent Rucchin to the New York Rangers in an Aug. 23, 2005 trade. Neither the Rangers that season, nor the Atlanta Thrashers, for whom Rucchin played in 2006-07, visited the Ducks during his time with those clubs, though Rucchin did appear in one game against the Ducks in Atlanta.

"I don't really know what to expect," Rucchin said. "It's been almost five years since I stepped foot in that rink. It's going to feel weird, for sure, but I'm looking forward to seeing some familiar faces. There are still some guys there, and people behind the scenes -- the training staff and people in the office. There will be a lot of people to shake hands with."

After working diligently the past two summers to overcome effects of a head injury incurred while with the Thrashers in March 2007, Rucchin has accepted the fact that his hockey career is over. Nerve damage in his right eye, likely a result of multiple concussions, doesn't affect Rucchin's "day-to-day living," but still causes dizziness with heavy exertion.

"It's going to get better, and I will be 100 percent, but I was told the risk for re-injuring it is high," Rucchin said. "At this point, it's just not worth fooling with it. You'd like to go out on your own terms, but I can't complain. I had a good career and had a chance to play a number of years."

Chosen by the Ducks out of the University of Western Ontario second overall in the 1994 supplemental draft, Rucchin ranks third, behind Selanne and Kariya, on the club's all-time lists in goals (153), assists (279), points (432), power-play goals (58), power-play points (142) and game-winning goals (23).

No long-time Ducks fan will ever forget Rucchin's overtime goal that capped an opening-round Stanley Cup playoff sweep of the defending champion Detroit Red Wings in 2003. That stunning series victory propelled the Ducks to the Stanley Cup Finals, where they fell in seven games to the New Jersey Devils.

"In 2003, he really came through as a leader," Ducks goaltender Jean-Sebastien Giguere said. "He carried our team for a good part of the playoffs. He really stepped up his game, and after that he became captain. It was well deserved."

Splitting time between Orange County, where he still owns a home, and his hometown of London, Ontario, Rucchin is still working on establishing his post-hockey path.

"I haven't figured out where I'm going to set roots," he said. "I'm just kind of stepping back, trying to enjoy life and be able to do a few things you don't have the opportunity to do when you're playing."

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